Purdue Mock Political Convention

Dates

• Existence: 1951 - 1968

Biography

Mock P was a Purdue student initiative to reproduce the national political convention and atmosphere every four years on Purdue’s campus. The idea to reproduce the national political atmosphere was first expressed in 1935 but did not come to fruition due to a lack of sufficient campus support. In the Fall semester of 1951, Dr. Paul Lull of the Purdue Speech Department together with two graduate students, reignited the idea and Mock P was born on Purdue’s campus. Purdue’s Mock P attracted national attention via television broadcasting.

Mock P was a nonpartisan university sponsored event. The goal of Mock P was to accurately simulate the party election process and correctly identify the candidates that would be elected as President and Vice President of the United States. The fictitious political party used at Mock P was called the One-Higher Party, before it was quickly renamed the Purduvian Party. Mock P was a multi-day event held at Lambert Fieldhouse with 1200 participants. Student housing units and organizations were each assigned a state or territory to represent at the convention. Participants were expected to research their states and the election.

The Mock P keynote speakers included Dr. Elmo Roper, William Ayers, Ross Bass, R. R. McKeldin, James Farmer, Floyd B. McKissick, John McNaughton, Thurston B. Morton, and Edmund S. Muskie.

One tradition of the Mock P was picking a mascot for each convention. Bruiser, the Phi Gam’s bulldog, was selected as the mascot for the first Mock P convention. The 1956 mascot was a shaggy dog named Demosthenes. The 1960 mascot was a duck named Kruzelda that was found wandering on campus. The 1964 mascot was a beaver. The planning committee could not find an actual beaver for the convention, so instead, Dean Larson, a Purdue student, served as the beaver mascot. The 1968 mascot was a penguin.

In 1972, Mock P was discontinued in favor of the Indiana Student Political Convention.

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